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When Chinese whispers are unnerving
Red Army officers have checked into a hotel in Mutare. Why? ASH Smyth looks for an answer
Reports that a score of Chinese soldiers have been seen in Mutare, eastern Zimbabwe based, largely, on the testimony of hotel chambermaids might yet prove false. Chinese officials have denied that their troops are there, and the 'soldiers' in question could conceivably be private security for some Chinese business interest.
But in the context of recent civil unrest, reports of bi-hourly patrols alongside Zimbabwean security forces make that interpretation look rather optimistic. Security guards don't normally patrol the streets - even less so in 'regalia' - and they don't stay at the Holiday Inn.
One squad of Chinese officers ('pistols' are officer issue) doth not an invasion make. A detachment of special-operations advisers, though, could represent a rather bigger problem.
And the presence of the Red Army on the streets of any African nation would constitute one of the biggest crises of the decade, uniting the twin headaches of African bad-governance and Chinese foreign policy.
So what are the Chinese up to? Is the West being sent a message?
Hopefully not. To parry scrutiny of their own domestic problems, China's entire foreign policy in Africa especially is founded on principles of non-interference. Most Western diplomats don't like it, and many don't really believe it; hitherto, however, it has been unflinching and predictable.
But if the West decides to push China off the fence, there's no knowing which side they'll land. Zimbabwe is emphatically not the place to put this to the test.
It is too much to hope that the Olympic torch party have got lost on their lap of Africa. Instead we should take comfort in the fact that the Chinese presence in Mutare is so ostentatious. If they decide they mean business, the Red Army won't arrive in their No. 1's, nor walk down the main street. ·
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"... we should take comfort in the fact that the Chinese presence in Mutare is so ostentatious. If they decide they mean business, the Red Army won't arrive in their No. 1's, nor walk down the main street."
Well said.
And a cartoon about this situation here: http://politicomix.blogspot.com/
The question being asked about the red army is a good one, it is like the queston that I keep asking the BBC. What are they doing entertaining George Shire? What is he doing in London when he should be on the sanctions list of banned Zanu PF members? I stated on the BBC have yoursay forum which seems to pay no attention, that allowing George to talk is giving Zanu PF an audience for propaganda purposes. I said that the BBC is actually poking swords into our (the people of Zimbabwe's) wounds. Why should they allow this CIO guy the opportunity for propaganda when in fact it is no secret if you ask those of us that know, that George is part and parcel of the regime's presence in the Diaspora and given that it is also fact known to the BBC that Mugabe continues to ignore the right of the now legitimate presidential party to television and radio broadcast. It is important when trying to get both sides of the story, that this is done in an orderly manner, not just by picking some fool who knows nothing about the turmoils and suffering of Zimbabweans when he has chosen to live and work here for the authors and perpetrators of our people's injustice(Mugabe's CIO)and never tasted life in Zimbabwe. The life he knows is that of Rhodesia.
Someone please tell the BBC that everytime that this man opens his mouth on their newstation, we switch channels to save ourselves affliction to our wounds, wounds of today's struggle of oppression by Mugabe, not the the struggle of decades ago, that bears a vague reality and reminiscence as we try to move on with bread and butter issues, issues that his employer(grandfather Robert) cannot EVER resolve. George Shire is the UK wing of Zanu PF, brother of army commander Perence Shiri, we need not hear the same propaganda that is fed to our fellow sufferers in Zimbabwe in replacement of basic food, electricity,fuel and basic quality of life. The BBC is not the ZBC, Zanu PF's mouthpiece and should distance itself from such malicious people purporting to give the other side of the story.
IT IS NON OF THE BUSINESS OF THE WESTERN WORLD THE SO CALLED CHAMPIONS OF HUMANITY TO INTERFERE IN THE AFFAIRS OF AFRICA AND CHINA, WHEN THE MOST UNCIVILISED WESTERN WORLD CAN SEND THEIR TROOPS WHERE THEY ARE NOT WANTED WHAT RIGHT DO THEY HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING TO CHINA, ANY SANE PERSON IN THE UNCIVILISED WESTERN WORLD ANSWER MY QUESTION